[correction] Urgent Appeal:Another 16 JERIT Bicylce Campaign Cyclists Arrested in Johor

[suaram‏]

SUARA RAKYAT MALAYSIA

Address:  433 A, 1^st Floor, Jalan 5/46, 46000 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia.

Telephone: +6 03 7784 3525                                Fax: +6 03 7784 3526

Email: sua...@suaram.net                                Web: www.suaram.net

 

Urgent Appeal: 6^th December 2008

Another 16 JERIT Bicylce Campaign Cyclists Arrested in Johor

 

16 cyclists/activists including Suaram Secretariat member and staffs have been arrested by the police this morning around 9.00am in front of SUARAM JB office before they started the bicycle campaign from Southern Region.

 

OCPD IPD Johor Utara ACP Roslan said that they got special instruction to arrest them. They are all detained in IPD Johor Utara. The other 30 cyclists who are not been arrested are harassed and intimidated by the police by stopping them buying the food, questioning them and asking for their IC.

 

SUARAM strongly condemns the police for their ongoing attacks and intimidation on freedom of expression, a fundamental right which is guaranteed under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Federal Constitution of Malaysia.

 

We demand that 16 cyclists to be released immediately and unconditionally and the Malaysian government to allow the cyclist to continue cycling and practice their freedom of expression as stated in Federal Constitution.

 

 

The 12 arrested are:

1.      Sivaragen Arumugum (39)

2.      Pannirselvam Varathan (48)

3.      Letchumy Devi Doraisamy (37)

4.      Simon Kamnagaran (34)

5.      Mohan Periasamy (41)

6.      Goh Chee Horng (24)

7.      Bawani Kamiappan (23)

8.      Yesudas Arokiasamy (41)

9.      Salleh bin Alim (46)

10.  Ahmad Nazib bin Salleh (13)

11.  Nalini Elumalai (26)

12.  Arutchelvan Subramaniam (41)

13.  Nyam Kee Han (25)

14.  Ngo Jian Yee (29)

15.  Ang Pei Shan (27)

16.  Chua Seong Ping (28)

 

Background

JERIT or Oppressed People’s Movement is organizing a cycling campaign throughout the nation to put forward six demands to the Prime Minister of Malaysia. The campaign officially began on the 3rd December at Wisma Darul Aman Kedah. 50 cyclists have been flagged off from Wisma Darul Aman and they would cycle for sixteen days through Kedah, Penang, Perak, and Selangor. On 18th December they will handover a memorandum to the Prime Minister in Parliament.

 

4 December: A volunteer of the campaign, Ruben  s/o Loganathan has been arrested at Merbau Pulas, Kedah, for leafleting leaflets containing demands of JERIT’s Bicycle campaign, but released under police bail on the same day.

5 December: Teluk Kumbar police had stopped the cyclist of JERIT cycle campaign from leafleting in Teluk Kumbar, Penang.

 

 

For further details please contact Nalini E at 019-3758912

 

Released By,

Wong Chai Yi

SUARAM Coordinator

 

Urgent action needed:

 

Please write protest letters to the government and the police to express your strongest condemnation of the arrests and the ongoing denial of rights of expression. Please also demand the Malaysian government to allow the cyclist to continue their campaign and allow them to practice their freedom of expression as stated in Federal Constitution.

Please call and send your protest letters to:

 

1. IPD Johor Utara

Balai Polis Skudai Polis Diraja Malaysia

No. 3861, Batu 10,
81300,Johor Bahru,
Johor,Malaysia

 Tel: 07-5561222

 

2. OCPD Roslan

Tel: 019-7000122

 

3. Inspector-General of Police
Tan Sri Musa Hassan
Ibu Pejabat Polis Diraja Malaysia,
50560 Bukit Aman,
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Tel: +603 2262 6015
Fax: +603 2272 5613

 

SAMPLE LETTER

[Letterhead of your organisation]

Inspector-General of Police
Tan Sri Musa Hassan
Ibu Pejabat Polis Diraja Malaysia,
50560 Bukit Aman,
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Tel: +603 2262 6015
Fax: +603 2272 5613

Dear Sir,

 

Re: Release 16 JERIT Bicylce Campaign Cyclists Arrested in Johor

 

We are writing to you, once again, to express our outrage and our strongest condemnation over your government's ongoing crackdown on freedom of expression.

We are appalled by your government and the police's latest actions and view this as yet another attempt by your government to intimidate Malaysian citizens from participating in any form of public assembly and exercising their freedom to express their views.

We demand that 16 cyclists to be released immediately and unconditionally. We further demand that your government stops the assault on freedom of expression.

We strongly urge you, once again, to stop bringing shame to Malaysia, a member of the United Nations Human Rights Council. We would like to remind you that freedom of expression is guaranteed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as well as the Federal Constitution of Malaysia.

Yours sincerely,

[Name]